Concept
A touchpoint can be defined as any way consumers can interact with a business organization, whether it be person-to-person, through a website, an app or any form of communication (“Touchpoint Glossary”, n.d.). When consumers come in contact with these touchpoints it gives them the opportunity to compare their prior perceptions of the business and form an opinion (Stein, & Ramaseshan, 2016). Touchpoints in marketing communications are the varying ways that a brand interacts and displays information to prospective customers and current customers. Touchpoints allow customers to have experiences every time they “touch" any part of the product, service, brand or organization, across multiple channels and various points in time (Pantano and Viassone, 2015 and Zomerdijk and Voss, 2010). Customers' opinions and perceptions are largely influenced by the contact that is made with these touchpoints, which can be positive or negative depending wholly on the individual person (Meyer, & Schwager, 2007). Touchpoints have the ability to influence a consumer's buying or purchase intent, all throughout the five stages of the buyer purchasing decision-making process: Problem recognition, information search, the evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase behaviour (Kotler, Burton, Deans, Brown, Armstrong, 2013). Touchpoints can happen in both a Business-to-Business setting and a Business-to-Consumer setting (Lemke, Clark, & Wilson, 2010). A touchpoint is a message or way a brand reaches out to their target market providing engagement as it allows the brand to be seen by the prospective customer in a favorable way. The goal of effective touchpoints is that it will create an opportunity for the purchaser to choose their brand over another competitor. Touchpoints are elements in the IMC (integrated marketing communications), which portray the willingness on behalf of the brand communicators to use specific communication motives to reach the appropriate target audience.